Grommets

[babycakes1010]

My son has finally got a referral to ent but the date for that isn't until July and we are now under another hospital due to no appointments at our local one. I was just wondering how long it took most people to get a date to have the procedure done? Do they tell you on the day? My son is 4 and has speech delay and has constant ear infections. He's recently had a hearing test that he failed. I no waiting times between each hospital varies I was just hoping someone who's experienced similar could share there experience. Thanks

It's about 3 months in our hospital and sometimes they want the child to have 2 hearing tests 3 months apart that show certain levels of hearing loss before doing anything. I asked for my now 7 year old to have a hearing test when he was 4 but it was only last month that they agreed to give him grommets. My 4 year old's hearing was a lot worse so he had grommets put in about 6 months after the original referral.

My DD had her consultation on a Wednesday, on Friday by post we had the date which was for 5-6 weeks after the the consultation where they decided on grommets.
She had a pre-op appointment about 10 days before the op.

I'm afraid we used husband's work medical insurance and went private...
DD was only 20 months old and quite speech delayed... NHS were going to give us the first appointment (just to check) in 5 months

we wanted it done ASAP as it was such a crucial speech development age... it was done in 2 weeks to a world of difference

So thought would update this thread.....after waiting months for am appointment it's finally today to see the consultant...BUT they have just called and cancelled my son's appointment and they have said they have nothing for another 3 months! I'm so angry as my son is so poorly at the moment due to his ears and tonsils. He's been the doctors twice since Saturday with no improvement and he's still not eating and refusing to drink so have managed to get him to the doctors this afternoon. Does anyone no if they will listen and can they do an urgent referral? This has been going on 18months now!

For ds, he's had grommets 3 times.
First time it was around a month between appointment and op.
Second time 2 days.
Third time about 3 weeks.

He was regarded as urgent though due to his severity.

You could try ringing consultants secretary. If that doesn’t work pals and writing to them with copying in your MP - so sorry you are going through this.

Sorry you are experiencing this. When our daughter first had issues, multiple infections, delayed speech etc.. we had a similar experience. And after almost a year of being ‘lost’ in a never ending system of cancellations and no appointments for months on end, we were advised by a doctor to go private if we could. Which is what we did, as we really had no choice. We saw the consultant and he said she was severely deaf and was operated on the same week. Since then she has been found to have an immune disorder and has lots of other ongoing issues including her ears, but she is seen urgently when needed. Ring the ENT secretary and ask if they have any urgent appointments they can offer. Ringing central booking is a waste of time unfortunately. Good luck!

Thought would update this thread....managed to see an ent consultant in august 2018 who requested us to return in October to discuss certain tests they wanted carried out as my son has sleep apnea and a heart murmur. Returned October to be told he couldn't be operated on as he needed a specialists children's hospital. Found out mid December the specialists children's hospital didn't feel he should be treated by them so resent him back to a local hospital! Angry isn't the word as he was finally put on a waiting list there end of December where we were told he was looking at an op date of may! Having him ill every other week and too many hospital admittance we have finally been given a operation date of 15th February. Come the date of the procedure it has taken 25 months. Finally feel there is light at the end of the tunnel

Glad to hear you finally have a date, but so sorry you have had to wait so long. The system is so stretched, that unless you are deemed more urgent, you are literally placed in an endless queue. As mentioned earlier, we had to go private with the first op. But by the time our daughter needed the 2nd op, it was done as an urgent case within 2 weeks, due to complications she had developed with her ear, and now we have just been told her other ear needs an urgent op, which is scheduled for 2 weeks time also. They are great when it’s a more medically urgent matter, but not so good when it’s considered routine. Good luck for next month, you will be amazed at what a difference it makes

Hope things go well for your daughter ....I've just had a call today and they have brought his op forward to this Friday! Apparently with how often he's been in and out he should of been an urgent case so have reviewed his file and offered an earlier date

After my last post it's gone from bad to worse! My son was suppose to have his op Friday and they cancelled as apparently the surgeon didn't feel confident! Having had a nightmare to get him rescheduled with another surgeon willing to do the procedure(who was the only one willing in the first place and he was already due in with him!) we were told march April time as they gave his appointment on 15th to someone else. After going round in circles we have a new date of 12th Feb.... 🤞 this is it

Sorry to hear you are still having problems getting this sorted, but good to hear you’ve been given another date relatively soon.
Why did the surgeon not feel confident doing what must be for them, quite a routine op? Is it just for grommets or tonsillectomy too? I know my daughter’s ENT surgeon always confers with paediatrics prior to surgery, so they can arrange any necessary precautions beforehand, so perhaps this hadn’t been done in your case, given your child also has other underlying issues, and they didn’t want to take any undue risks?!

Thanks for the reply. He's having grommets then tonsils and adenoids removed.
The surgeon just said he didn't feel confident due to his age and even though he was tested for his heart to make sure it's nothing then a murmur and his sleep apnea is mild he just refused. Which is good he was honest. But frustrating when there was a plan in place already for a certain surgeon and support on standby if needed.
From speaking to his consultant I think whoever placed him on the other surgeons list didn't read his notes.
I feel better that it's still going to be before the original date but just need to hope he doesn't get ill in the mean time